History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c8.s3.1

c8.s3.1

Owing to a fondness for synonyms, the ancient Hindu often used different names for the same place, and this laxity of nomenclature is perhaps nowhere so noticeable as in the case of Kanauj. Its most commonly recognised name was, of course, Kānyakubja or Kanyākubja or Kanyakubja,³ which continues to occur in literature and inscriptions from the earliest to the latest period of its history.¹ Next, we find mention of the name Mahodaya or Mahodayā, meaning “full of high prosperity.” Although there are references to this name in earlier literature,² it did not hold the preference until the time of the Pratīhāras, when Kanauj was renovated to a life of opulence and power.³ That Kānyakubja and Mahodaya were names of one and the same city is also testified by Hemacandra’s *Abhidhāna-cintāmaṇi*,⁴ Halāyudha’s *Abhidhānaratnamālā*,⁵ and other lexicons.⁶